tabby's tips

Get What You Want Out of a Meeting – 5 Tips from Tabby

Tabby Biddle — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:00:12 +0000

How often have you walked out of meeting and felt like you didn’t get what you wanted? Your time is very valuable. There’s a good reason for the cliché, “Time is money.” You’ve got more than enough on your To-Do list, and frankly you don’t have time to waste on unproductive meetings. When you schedule a meeting, you want to make sure that everyone involved gets the most value from your time together. Here’s how…

5 Tips to Get What You Want Out of a Meeting:

1. Before you meet, be clear with the person(s) you are meeting with about the purpose of the meeting. Are you looking to partner on a project? Are you looking to sell your product or service to them? Are you looking for an investor? Are you looking to include them in your network of referrals? State what you want by phone or email before you meet.

2. Be clear about what you have to offer the person(s) you are meeting with. What value are you adding to their life? Are you offering them a job? Are you providing them with a PR opportunity? Are you offering them a unique product or service? Are you introducing them to potential clients?

3. Give the person(s) you are meeting with a sense of what it would be like to work with you. Offer them information, advice or tips to demonstrate your expertise and value you can add to their life.

4. Before you leave the meeting, state a clear action plan for the next steps. What you will do next? What would you like them to do next?

5. Send a follow-up email within 24 hours to acknowledge the value of the meeting and restate the agreed upon action steps. Follow up by phone within a week to report and check on progress.

Try it! Let me know how it goes.

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Tabby Biddle is a writer and editor specializing in helping women entrepreneurs and emerging authors get their message out. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Contact: tabby@tabbybiddle.com

Website: www.tabbybiddle.com

Building Your Brand – 10 Tips from Tabby

Tabby Biddle — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:27:34 +0000

Building your brand is key to running a successful business. Without a clear brand, you often waste precious time, money and resources on non-targeted marketing and publicity efforts. Your brand is what drives your business and therefore your business strategy. It is the core, or soul, of your business. If you are a new entrepreneur you may be wondering, What is a brand and how do I create one?

To put it simply, your brand is the main story (or message) you want to tell the world.

Let’s get started!

10 Tips for Building Your Brand:

Define Your Product or Service. Answer in one sentence: What do you do?
Define Why You Created Your Product or Service. Answer in one sentence: Why did you create your product or service? (Think about the core reasons and answer from your gut).
Define Your Target Audience. Answer this question: Who needs what you do? (Be specific – gender, age range, income level, geography, what they spend their money on, what they value most in life, what is missing in their lives …)
Define Who You Are in Relation to Your Product or Service: Answer this question: What background, experiences and values do you bring to your product or service?
Define the Value of Your Product or Service. Answer this question: What are the immediate benefits to your target audience of your product or service?
Define Why People Will Buy from You. Answer this question: What is it about you that will make people want to buy from you as opposed to someone down the street? (Think about the compliments you have gotten throughout your life from friends, colleagues, family and teachers).
Determine What Value You Can Offer People Up Front. Answer this question: What free information, tips, tools or educational materials can you offer on your website to give people an experience of your value and expertise?
Define How You Will Get Your Brand Out in Front of People. Answer this question: Where will your brand’s value be most appreciated and what will you do to get in front of those people?
Define What Media Could Help You. Make a list of the magazines, tv shows, radio shows, and websites that your target market tunes into. Start reading, watching, and listening to all of these — and create a list of editors, journalists, and producers who cover your industry and target market. (I’ll cover what to do with this list in an upcoming Tabby’s Tips).
Get Some Feedback. You don’t want to create your brand in a vacuum. Invite your friends to lunch and ask them to listen to your brand pitch and give you feedback. It’s important to see how the outside world responds to what you are creating. If you can, set up a few meetings with different friends to discuss your brand and get feedback.

Congratulations. You are on your way!

Let me know how it goes.

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Tabby Biddle is a writer and editor specializing in helping women entrepreneurs and emerging authors get their message out. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Contact: tabby@tabbybiddle.com

Website: www.tabbybiddle.com

Write Your Mission Statement – 5 Tips from Tabby

Tabby Biddle — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:09:48 +0000

Many people labor over their mission statement. Although it is an extremely important part of your business, writing one doesn’t have to be a difficult process.

You started your business to add value to people’s lives. Whether you have a product or service business, you have an important message to express and goals to accomplish. Your mission statement conveys just this: it is the essence of why you created your business.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners can make is to have a long-winded and unclear mission statement. Without clarity in their mission statement, businesses tend to fall off course and waste precious time and resources. If that happens, those who need what you are offering may not find you.

In a nutshell, your mission statement should be one to three sentences telling the world why you exist, what you hope to achieve, and how you’ll do it.

Here are 5 Simple Steps to Writing Your Mission Statement:

1. Tell why you exist: Write down the three tops reasons you created your business. Think about your values and vision.

2. Tell who will you serve: Write down 10 characteristics of your target market (age, gender, profession, income, what they spend money on, what magazines they read, what they value most in their lives, …). Then answer this question: What is your target market’s greatest problem?

3. Tell how you will serve: Write down three ways your product or service will help solve your market’s problem and add value to their lives.

4. Now simplify: Take what you have and make it more concise. Write one sentence describing your purpose. Write another sentence describing the type of business or service you are offering and whom it will serve. Write a third sentence describing your values and vision. Show these three sentences to a few people in your target market and ask them what parts of your statement inspire them and feel the most powerful.

5. Rewrite: Once you have gotten your market feedback, you are ready to simplify even more. Rewrite your mission statement to be as short, concise and powerful as possible. Once sentence is best. Three sentences is tops. Make sure your purpose, goals and values are clear.

Congratulations. You are on your way!

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Tabby Biddle is a writer and editor specializing in helping women entrepreneurs and emerging authors get their message out. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Contact: tabby@tabbybiddle.com

Website: www.tabbybiddle.com